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Finally, our sister advised us by quoting I Samuel 26:8-11:
8 Then Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time." 9 But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD'S anointed and be without guilt?" 10 David also said, "As the LORD lives, surely the LORD will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 "The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go."
The conclusion? 'I believe God is saying to us all now - leave Roger to Me.' Apparently, church discipline, as detailed earlier, becomes irrelevant and Wheelhouse should be allowed to prey on other fellowships. Hopefully, there was no suggestion that Wheelhouse was to be counted as the 'Lord's anointed'?]
126. Beware the church which covers up and installs an un-Scriptural 'Moderator'
31st March 1999
Dear Brothers arid Sisters at Calvary,
In our letter to you on 10th March, the deacons advised you that we were considering the appointment of a Moderator. During the last Interregnum the Church had an Eldership and a larger diaconate and it was felt that a Moderator was not necessary. However, the deacons have discussed this issue and with advice from Peter Manson, have decided that in the current circumstances, a Moderator will give support to us and the Church throughout the coming months as we seek the way forward and the appointment of a new minister.
We have approached Rev Bob Evans, who chaired the AGM, and asked him to consider taking on the task. He is married with a young family and lives in Cardiff. He has been a Baptist minister for 17 years, serving in several churches, as [sic] is currently the Free Church University Hospital Chaplain.
As Moderator his role would be to chair deacons' business meetings and attend and chair Church Members' meetings as required, to facilitate but not to make any decisions on any church business matters. When the time is right he will give guidance on the calling of a new minister. He will be available to take an evening service about once a month, but not participate in midweek meetings. The deacons and housegroup leaders will continue to take responsibility for pastoral matters but he will be available to deal with the more serious pastoral concerns which will be referred to him through the deacons. The role of Moderator is that of a supporter and adviser, so he will not take on the duties of a pastor other that [sic] what is stated.
At the Church meeting on 8th April, the deacons will bring to you the recommendation that we appoint Rev Bob Evans as Moderator. We ask that you will continue to pray about this matter and seek the Lord's will concerning it.
We also ask that you prayerfully consider the 'Making Sunday Best Project' and 'New Millennium Challenge' which we will bring to the April meeting for discussion. More details of this are available at the Church Office, on the notice board or please ask one of the deacons or Kevin Dare who will be pleased to explain further.
I would, on behalf of the deacons, remind you that we are available at any time to discuss any queries you may have. If you are aware of any pastoral needs, such as hospital visits, please let us know either directly or through the Church Office.
Our prayer is that as a fellowship we will diligently seek the Lord's will in all things and that as we are obedient to the Holy Spirit's leading we will see the Lord's blessing.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God'.
Ephesians 3 v 16-19
Every blessing,
Derek Evans
Church Treasurer
[Calvary Baptist Church denied the evidence before their eyes and disobediently failed to discipline Wheelhouse, but still think they are being obedient to the Holy Spirit's leading by considering more man-made ideas in the 'Making Sunday Best Project' and 'New Millennium Challenge'!]
The deacons had apparently followed our request and informed Manson and Lewis that we sought further discussion with them to clarify the points above, but we were informed that they refused to meet with us so we wrote to him:
127. Beware the fence-sitting un-Scriptural 'Area Superintendent'
March, 1999
Dear Reverend Peter Manson,
for the past 18 years we have worked in ministries reaching out to those trapped in various spiritual deceptions, caring for their spiritual welfare and leading them to a knowledge of the truth.
Our experiences have helped us to recognise the damaging nature of the Wheelhouse's pastoral ministry and deceptive handling of the Word of God.
The Calvary Baptist Church deacons informed us that you do not wish to meet with us and so we will detail our concerns over the recently terminated pastorate of Roger Wheelhouse at our church.
We seek your personal reassurance that:
1. This spiritual abuse is never repeated by them again in any other church;
2. You will personally ensure that the churches where they have 'ministered' are led to a place of real healing.
The persecution of the church in Britain today is coming from within fellowships through infiltration of false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing and counterfeit signs and wonders (Matthew 7:15-23; 24:24; 2 Corinthians 11:14; 2 Peter 2:1).
We will continue to seek the Lord's will for further action to deal with these problems, warning others of the dangers and encouraging the Body of Christ to be more diligent when inviting men to lead the flock.
In the Precious Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
David and Zoë Williams
Peter Manson 'replies':
April 2 1999
Dear David and Zoë,
Thank you for your recent letter following up your concern for Roger and Sue Wheelhouse.
Naturally I am concerned about those things which are distressing you but you will realise on reflection that it is not mine to do as you request.
Our practice as Baptists is to centre our work in the local church and congregation. Therefore I am responsible to the Church Meeting in the first instance. Where there is a matter that concerns a local church beyond their own immediate situation then the local church from its Church Meeting refers it either to the Association or to the Ministry department of the Union or to both. I am then responsible to act on whatever decisions are made in their councils.
I am sorry not to be able to be more helpful to you and hope that you will understand our church order in these matters.
We have remembered you prayerfully through what has been a very difficult time for the Church at Calvary and trust that you will both find peace in your ongoing service and witness.
Yours sincerely
Peter Manson
[So Calvary Baptist Church utterly failed to recognise the damage caused by the Wheelhouse's and took no action to refer the matter to 'either to the Association or to the Ministry department of the Union or to both.' Is this any different from the cover-ups by the cults, Roman Catholicism and Islam? Which 'truth' are they expecting to 'set them free'?
(James 4:4): You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
128. Beware those who dis-fellowship you for standing on the Word of God
We received the following letter from Calvary Baptist Church:
6 May 1999
Dear David and Zoë,
It is with much regret that I write this letter but I have to advise you that at the last Church Members' meeting the decision to suspend your membership from Calvary was confirmed.
This does not mean that you cannot continue to worship at Calvary and although we appreciate that this is not easy for you, we hope that if you feel able, you will join with us. You are very precious to your friends at Calvary and we sincerely pray that at some time in the future you will return to us as part of the fellowship.
This has been a very painful time for all of us and we pray that the Lord will graciously show us all the way forward.
With love,
Derek Evans
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that god [sic] has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
Reply to Calvary Baptist Church
12th July 1999
Dear Derek,
I am replying to your letter of the 6th May 1999 (instant), in which you belatedly informed Zoë and I that "at the last Church Members' meeting the decision to suspend your membership from Calvary was confirmed."
We thank you for your invitation to worship and fellowship at Calvary and we continue to hold you in our hearts and prayers.
However, the same barriers to fellowship remain that were pointed out in our letter of the 4th March 1999, namely that we have not received a single Scriptural exposition from any Christian involved in this matter which details the ways in which they considered us to be in error in our interpretation of events. The phrase used in the deacons letter of the 10th March 1999 included this accusation directed at us: "the action we took and the manner of distribution of our letter was not in accordance with Biblical principles."
Presenting a Scriptural basis for any decision should be 100% normal in any matter decided by a Christian fellowship but this was not done at either the January or February meeting this year or in any verbal or written exchange between the deacons and ourselves. We therefore ask you once again to detail, in writing, the Scriptural grounds for this statement and for our suspension.
In Jesus' Precious Name,
David and Zoë Williams
129. Beware those who cannot make a Scriptural case - but want you to meet their un-Scriptural 'Moderator'
We eventually received the following letter from the new church secretary, John Jones:
30th July 1999
Dear David,
Thank for your letter of 12th July. However, we are sad to note that you are still not in a position to offer any apology to the church for the way in which your original letter was distributed.
At present, Rev. Bob Evans is acting as our Moderator and so that we can give a fuller reply to your letter with his input we feel it is right that he has the opportunity to bring himself up to date with the correspondence that has passed between yourself and the church. We anticipate that we will then be in a position to meet with you on a personal basis early in September after the holiday period.
I will contact you nearer the time to arrange a meeting.
Best Wishes in Christ,
John Jones
Church Secretary
[Again, no attempt to give any Scriptural exposition of the reasoning behind the un-Scriptural actions. We also did not request any contact with any other Baptist Union representative and our request had only been for clear Scriptural exposition from Calvary Baptist Church or Richard Lewis.]
130. 'Moderator' Evans displays the reasoning and logic of the cults
Eventually, John Jones arranged a meeting with the Calvary Baptist Church "moderator", Bob Evans, and they eventually arrived at my house over a year after the first church meeting at which they had opportunity to present a Scriptural base for their decisions, yet failed. Evans apologised for the time it had taken to arrange this meeting, but explained that he had suffered from a diabetic problem - with which I duly sympathized.
At the beginning of the meeting with Bob Evans I explained that my request was simply to hear Scriptural reasons from the Calvary Baptist leaders mouths for our removal from Calvary Baptist Church. I questioned the inability of the church and its deacons to even define a 'heretic,' or 'heretical.' Evans glibly responded that the word only meant 'choice'! I told him that the word meant much more than that, particularly in the context of Scripture passages in the New Testament to which I had referred in my dealings with the church. When I mentioned that I had also given W. E. Vines definition to the church and read it out at the first meeting his reply was astonishing: 'Oh Vines, he's Plymouth Brethren!' This is exactly the kind of answer I have come to expect from cults who, when exposed, immediately challenge your authority or try to move the goal posts. If you quote an authority who doesn't agree with them they will try and debunk the authority. I challenge anyone to discredit Vines as an authority on Greek. His work is widely quoted by orthodox evangelicals world-wide. And I challenge anyone to find serious error with the Plymouth Brethren, who are not to be confused with the dangerous 'Exclusive Brethren', but are far more Scriptural than Evans' weak and vacillating Baptist Union of today who are in bed with Rome, Quakers and any Tom, Dick and Heretic who call themselves 'Christian.' By questioning Vines, 'Moderator' Evans is also calling into question the names and reputations of the excellent and world-renowned scholars, W. Graham Scroggie and Professor F. F. Bruce who wrote forewords to Vine's Editions!
This set the tone for the meeting and the best Evans could do was to repeat the errors that had gone before and question the 'lack of love and compassion' expressed in our letter. He was also clearly oblivious to the nature of Paul's writings in Galatians 2 and 1 Corinthians 5-6 and the necessity to stand up for the truth of God's Word and made no attempt to put forward a case for the action they had taken. He declared that he had read the letter without reading our comments and would not make a judgement on Roger's sermons from just a few examples. So had he made a point of using the many months which had passed to listen to Wheelhouse's ministry which was still available on tape, or checked out any of the facts from eye-witnesses? Clearly not!
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